CME live cattle, hogs drop as stock market tumbles

October 23, 2012|Reuters

Oct 23 (Reuters) - CME live cattle futures turned lower onTuesday pressured by selling across a broad spectrum ofcommodities led by the downturn in the equities sector, analystsand traders said. * The U.S. stock market fell as investors worried that theslow global economy will continue to hurt corporate earnings. * "Problems on Wall Street are not good news for thelivestock market because we depend so much on meat demand," atrader said. * CME hogs were also weakened by stock market losses andlower wholesale pork values. * Traders also cited the U.S. Department of Agriculture'scold storage report on Monday that showed record total porkinventories last month.

LIVE CATTLE - At 8:35 a.m. CDT (1335 GMT), October was down 0.600 cent per lb to 125.825 cents. December wasoff 0.500 cent at 126.775 cents. * Investors await this week's cash cattle bids and askingprices as packers cut slaughter rates to improve margins whilepropping up wholesale beef values. * Packers on Monday processed 125,000 head of cattle, 1,000less than a week earlier and 2,000 fewer compared with the sameperiod a year ago. * There we no deliveries reported by the CME late on Monday.

* The government's cold storage report on Monday showedtotal September beef stocks at 425.6 million lbs, which was 2percent below the previous month and down slightly fromSeptember 2012.

FEEDER CATTLE - October slipped 0.250 cent per lb to145.425 cents. November was at 147.225 cents, down 0.525cent. * October futures was weighted by its premium to CME'sfeeder cattle index at 145.03 cents. The contract will expire onOct. 25. * Other contracts tracked the lower live cattle market.

LEAN HOGS - December was 0.750 cent per lb lower at77.925 cents per lb. February was down 0.375 cent to84.800 cents. * The pork cold storage inventory is alarming and futurescould come under more pressure as wholesale pork values waveramid ample supplies, an analyst said. * Packers on Monday processed 435,000 hogs, up 2,000 from aweek earlier and 8,000 more than a year ago for the same period.

(Reporting by Theopolis Waters in Chicago;editing by SofinaMirza-Reid)